5 things to know about Portland

It took until the final game of the regular season, but the playoff pairings have finally been set for the Western Conference. The Dallas Mavericks are the No. 3 seed and will have home-court advantage over the No. 6 seed Portland Trail Blazers. Here are five interesting tidbits to know about the Mavs' first round opponent:

1. LaMarcus Aldridge has torched the Mavericks this season. During the four game series between the teams, he averaged 27.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and had a shooting percentage of .516.

2. The Mavericks and the Trail Blazers split their season series with two wins apiece. Neither team was able to win on the road, so home-court advantage could play a major role in this series. Dallas won their two games by a combined total of eight points while Portland won their two games by a total of 11 points.

3. Portland's longest winning streak this season was a six-game run in February which included a win over the Chicago Bulls, the top team in the East. They also had a six-game losing streak at the end of November through beginning of December.

4. Another player to watch out for besides Aldridge would be Gerald Wallace. Wallace was acquired in a midseason trade from the Charlotte Bobcats. In 23 games as a Blazer, Wallace is averaging 15.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.0 steals per contest.

5. The Trail Blazers win games with solid defense and ball control. Offensively, they rank in the lower half of the league: they’re 23nd overall in points scored (96.4) and are 28th overall in rebounds (39.2). However, they rank sixth in the NBA in points allowed (94.6) and are tied for fourth in steals per game (8.1). They rank first in the NBA with the least number of turnovers per game (13.0).

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